Lagged teleconnections between snow depth in northern Eurasia, rainfall inSoutheast Asia and sea-surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean

This study shows that above-(below-)normal winter snow depth over European Russia and corresponding below-(above-)normal snow depth over central Siber ia is associated with reduced (increased) summer monsoon rainfall over sout hern and western India and eastern Pakistan, and above-(below-)normal sea-s urface temperatures (SSTs) over the eastern and central tropical Pacific Oc ean during the following winters. The connection is slightly stronger when snow depth over European Russia is above normal than below normal. These re sults are derived from an examination of 60 years (1936-1995) of winter sno w depth data and SSTs, and 45 years (1951-1995) of summer precipitation rec ords. The results of this study suggest that winter snow depth over the wes tern rather than the eastern portion of Eurasia is critical to Southeast As ian summer monsoon rainfall and eastern tropical Pacific SSTs during the fo llowing seasons. Copyright (C) 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.